AP, 221g pink slip, security review , chennai consulate, india

[mrafeeq 0]

Hi ,

I am on H1B visa, i went to chennai, india for vacation. i wanted to get the stamping for my h1b extension. the visa officer cancelled my existing visa (because i do not work for that employer any longer) and gave me a pink slip explaining i will have to undergo 'administrative processing' . she gave me a tracker number for my case. my status was "Pending processing " for 1 month, later the status changed to 'Send Passport' .i immediately submitted my passport after a few days the status changed to 'Pending processing' again.

it is more than a month now, my passport is still with the consulate, i repeatedly contacted the consulate but did not get any meaningful reply. my company attorney contacted the consulate and got a reply that my application was undergoing security review. i do not know what this involves and how long this takes. luckily my wife went for h4 (dependent visa) stamping and she got it.

i am undergoing these anxious moments immediately after marriage and i have to answer and explain this to many people. it is very very very frustrating.

below is the timelines i underwent. please post your experiences and any leads as what to do next. i am undergoing a lot of economic los as i have all my belongins in the usa and i am paying rent for nothing there

Aug 5 2008 - visa interview. given pink slip in chennai consulate

Sep 12 2008 - status changes to send passport

sep 15 2008 - i submitted my passport to the consulate,

...

....

...

Oct 15 w008 - still waiting for my visa. the online tracker shows "pending processing" still.

[himher 634]

One of our sponsored (engineering) employees went through the same thing in late 2007, it took about 6 weeks and we (our company) had to get involved to have his visa moved along. He also went on vacation to visit his family. Make sure your sponsoring company keeps pressure on them - we also had a heated congressional inquiry sent to the consulate requesting a detailed explanation, status, and request to inform the congressional office about changes in case status.

[mrafeeq 0]

i work for a biotech company,

below could be a reason for my security review

http://www.murthy.com/news/uktech.html

people falling under technology alert list need to undergo this extra security check. but in my exploration of similar forums, i found that the wait of few months upto a year happens before the consulate accepts the passport. in my case my passport is with them but the wait continues still.

the chennai consulate appears to be a black box to me, approachable only through emails which do not get proper replies. they reply only when our company attorney contacts them

yes i will keep up the pressure through my employers attorney. thank you everyone for every bit of information you provide in a similar experience.